Highest US TV rating for a club soccer match in 10 years

AreliusIII · 03-13-2006, 08:12 AM

Univision's telecast of Chivas Guadalajara vs Club America recorded highest US TV rating for a club soccer match in 10 years

February 28, 2006

The live telecast of the Mexican Soccer League's regular season superclasico match, featuring Mexico's two most popular soccer clubs Chivas Guadalajara and Club America of Mexico City, recorded the highest TV rating in the United States for a soccer match not involving national teams in the past 10 years, according to data collected by Nielsen Media Research.

The telecast, which aired on the Spanish-language broadcast network Univision on Sunday February 26, 2006 at 6pm to 8pm Eastern Time (3pm to 5pm Pacific Time), drew a 1.3% Nielsen National Television Index final rating, or approximately 1.427 million households and 2.588 million viewers age 2 and over.

The rapid influx of Mexican immigrants to the United States has caused Univision to switch its TV ratings measurement system from the Nielsen Hispanic Television Index (NHTI) to the Nielsen National Television Index (NTI) during the 2005-2006 broadcast television season. The switch allows Univision to compete more effectively for advertising sponsorships against the English-language broadcast networks.

According to a 2004 survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, 40 million US residents, or over 14% of the US population of 288 million, are of Hispanic descent. Nearly two-thirds of Hispanics in the US, or over 26 million people (about 9% of the US population), are of Mexican descent.

Univision's Chivas Guadalajara vs Club America telecast on February 26 was the first Mexican League superclasico to be measured by the NTI.

Univision's Mexican Soccer League broadcasts on Sunday afternoons at 1pm-3pm Eastern Time (10am-12noon Pacific Time) have averaged about 700000 households during the 2006 Torneo Clausura season.

The TV rating for Chivas Guadalajara vs Club America, when compared to TV ratings recorded by US Major League Soccer (MLS), illustrates the struggles MLS has encountered in the past 10 years.

The 1996 and 1997 MLS Finals, which aired on the broadcast network ABC with both English and Spanish sound tracks, both drew over 1.3 million households. No MLS telecast has drawn over 1.1 million households since then. The 2005 MLS Final on ABC on November 13 drew 854000 households.

Typical regular season MLS telecasts on the cable/satellite TV network ESPN2 have averaged around 200000 households in recent years.

The highest-rated soccer broadcast in the history of US television was the 1999 Women's World Cup Final between the United States and China. That telecast on ABC with English commentary drew over 10 million US households.

Jose Luis Luviano · 03-13-2006, 01:35 PM

In LA, Mexican League games used to beat NFL games in the Nielsen ratings.

Aero · 03-13-2006, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jose Luis Luviano

In LA, Mexican League games used to beat NFL games in the Nielsen ratings.

That's probably a big reason why there isn't an NFL team in LA right now.

Jose Luis Luviano · 03-13-2006, 01:51 PM

"Hablando de Deportes" (featuring the Galaxy's radio announcers) used to get better ratings than The Jim Rome Show. But they were on at different times.

That's one of the reasons why El Enano Resentido doesn't like soccer.

fuegote · 03-13-2006, 02:39 PM

http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=Enano

RSLfrontrowfan · 03-13-2006, 04:37 PM

The Juventus vs AC Milan match on Sunday was seen by an estimated worldwide audience of 2 billion. Just mentioned this for comparison purposes.

Juve vs AC Milan

AreliusIII · 03-13-2006, 04:41 PM

Those are 2 billion very disappointed supporters. Juve v Milan was a sad typically cliched Italian 0-0 affair. Really pathetic performances from 2 of the supposed best.

RSLfrontrowfan · 03-13-2006, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AreliusIII

Those are 2 billion very disappointed supporters. Juve v Milan was a sad typically cliched Italian 0-0 affair. Really pathetic performances from 2 of the supposed best.

I thought it was a decent game - if you wanted to see some good defensive tactics this one was a cant miss. I think the media makes too much of what you just called "typically clinched Italian 0-0 affair". this is nothing more than a stereotype perpetuated by the English media. After all in the latest leg of the Champions League AC Milan took Bayern to the woodshed 4-1, while EPL representitives (which according to the English media play a better brand of football) Liverpool and Arsenal failed to find the back of the net.